Subsidies harmful

June 11, 2013Letters to the Editor

It is long since overdue that Congress reduce — and eventually eliminate — agricultural subsidies. The small steps the Senate recently took must not be reversed. Agricultural subsidies, which forcibly take wealth from one segment of the population and redistribute to another, may buy votes but come at the cost of creating mal-investment in the economy, as well as violating individual rights to maintain this socialist mercantilist program. There is nothing wrong — in fact, it would be beneficial — for Americans to purchase their food from farms located in other countries which do not require forcibly seized U.S. taxpayer wealth to sustain their viability.